I Have an Idea for a TV Show. How Do I Get It Made?
The honest answer for formats, reality and game shows, from someone who still hears two or three pitches a week.
Latest
Fewer doors, bigger rooms
More outlets, fewer gatekeepers. The BBC and Channel 4 are talking about sharing the machinery behind their brands, Channel 4 has a new programme chief, and Paramount and WBD are now one company. Here’s what each means for your next pitch.
The Friday Format Sweep: MIPCOM 2026 Special.
Almost nothing going to MIPCOM 2026 is a paper format. The trends, the five to watch, and a long service medal for Tim Crescenti.
OUTSIDE, Netflix: Who Can Afford to Prove a Format?
The Sidemen turned a self-funded YouTube experiment into a Netflix franchise. A teardown of the game, the route to commission, and whether comic spending carries real stakes.
Friday Format Sweep 25 Sept - Is the Box ITV's Failed format no 10?
Withholding the rules can work. Withholding the feedback doesn't. Hot or Cold vs The Box, and the rest of this week's new formats heading into MIPCOM.
The New Format Model: Follow the Money, Not the Flag
A UK-developed, Norwegian-commissioned reality show points to a new global model for launching television formats.
Why US TV Networks Have Stopped Developing New Formats
America gave the world Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud. So why haven't ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox originated a real format hit in years? A look at where US development actually went.
Friday Format Sweep 11 Sept 26
Two brand new formats land this week, but the real story is five proven ones finding a new mechanic. Ruthless, I'm a Celebrity, and more.
Two Warnings From Nine Cancellations
Nine big-name UK entertainment shows. Nine one-series cancellations. The first Post-Mortem breaks down the two patterns that actually explain it.
Premortem Case Study: The Box
Five days before The Box aired, a Premortem flagged the exact failure mode that showed up on screen. Here's the report, next to what actually happened.
THE BOX ITV, Where did it all go so wrong?
Gary Lineker's big ITV launch got savaged on transmission night. A look at what actually broke, on screen, and why the international success story didn't save it.
What does a TV format consultant do?
A good TV format consultant does more than give notes. They diagnose the engine, test the proposition and help turn a promising idea into a producible, sellable format.
Friday Format Sweep 4 Sept 26
Most of what landed in the format trade press this week wasn't new. It was old shows getting a fresh coat of paint. Channel 4 sent Taskmaster home for a spin-off. A German guessing game show picked up an international distributor for its second season. Reboots and
Market Wall
THE BBC YOUTUBE OPPORTUNITY MADE CLEAR
The BBC's Deepwatch and Showground YouTube briefs, explained. What they require and what they reveal about developing formats platform-first
Format Lab
How do I develop a TV format?
A practical guide to turning a television idea into a repeatable format: define the promise, build the engine, test the jeopardy and prove the returnability.
Market Wall
The Friday Format Sweep 28 Aug 2026
No new TV format concepts broke this week, just revivals. Deal or No Deal, The Traitors and The Grand Tour all came back with a twist. Here's what it means for development.
Market Wall
How Do We Measure a Successful Commissioning System?
What does a good BBC commissioning system actually look like? Not hit rate, but how cheaply it finds failure and what it's still creating five years on.
Market Wall
The Rise of the Super Format
The Top 20 returning TV formats of the last decade, ranked on renewals rather than ratings. The Rise of the Super Format The Top 20 returning TV formats of the last decade, ranked on renewals rather than ratings. TL;DR Ratings are not published everywhere. Revenue is almost never disclosed.
Market Wall
TV Format Market Reports 2026 | The Format Atlas
Seven territory reports on the 2026 format market. What "downturn" really means in each, before Edinburgh and MIP.
Format Lab
The Premortem. Find the failure before the failure finds you.
Every TV format that fails looked fine when it was greenlit. The Premortem finds the crack before you spend a penny developing it.
Format Lab
The Shared Script: Why Nobody Watched The Neighbourhood
Why The Neighbourhood failed before it aired, and how the Shared Script Test exposes whether a reality format rests on lived experience or nostalgia.
Format Lab
The Three Ways a TV Format Dies: Failure Models Every Developer Should Know
Why do TV formats fail? Three failure models, from The Neighbourhood to Limitless Win to Cash Cab, and a diagnostic checklist for format developers.
Format Lab
Format Lab: The Traitors, Teardown #1
The Traitors stripped to its six core mechanics. A format developer's teardown showing which parts of the engine you can reuse, and how to avoid a clone.
Market Wall
ITV Studios Is Now the Orphaned Asset. Where Does It Go for Comfort?
Sky's ITV takeover leaves ITV Studios standalone right as Banijay and All3Media merge. What it means for format creators pitching new shows.